I havenít really mentioned this here in the past, but one
of my main collecting interests is the US M9 Multi-Purpose Bayonet System, or
putting it more simply the M9 Bayonet. I started collecting the M9 back in
1987 when it was first adopted by the US Army. It has turned into quite an
obsession since then with my M9 and related items probably approaching 250
pieces. I warn other collectors who havenít yet purchased an M9 and are
thinking about it to be careful because a sickness comes over you after
acquiring one of them. Theyíre like Lays potato chips; you canít own just
one.

There have been a couple of significant happenings in the
M9 field in the last few weeks and I thought Iíd share some comments on
them. The first involves what M9 collectors refer to as the
"Chevron" M9. The chevrons are the very first group of M9s that were
made. There was a ">" added to the blade marking and it wasnít
supposed to be there. A total of 1200 of these bayonets were made and a little
over 1000 of them were actually delivered to the Army in the first shipment.
Where they went from there I donít know, but I can tell you that it took me
until 2004 to find one (thatís 17 years for those of you who are doing the
math). To use the old expression, theyíre as scarce as henís teeth. One
showed up on ebay a few weeks ago and the auction closed at $1525.50. Thatís
right folks, over $1500 for an issue M9 bayonet! A week later the same seller
listed another one that closed for $1125.00. Turns out that the seller had
stumbled upon a small group of them. From what I understand he sold a number
of them to collectors without going through ebay. It will be interesting to
see if any others show up on the auction.

Last week a Buck USMC marked M9 bayonet was on ebay and
closed at $2025.00. This is even more incredible in my mind than the chevron
bayonet because they made 5000 of these bayonets and a couple of years ago
they were all over the market. Granted the piece that sold for two grand was
in exceptionally good condition, but I know guys who have had these on their
tables at shows for over a year and would gladly accept a fraction of what
that one sold for.

I have mixed feelings about these prices. It sure feels
good to think that my collection houses these four-figure pieces but I know
that these are unrealistically inflated values. Problem is that other people
who are selling these same bayonets will price them according to what theyíve
seen on ebay. Then none but a few will be able to buy them. I guess this will
force the prices to come back down to a reasonable level, but someone will get
hurt in the meantime.

For years peopled scoffed at the M9 but the number of
people collecting them has grown significantly. I think the big thing to come
from all of this is that the M9 bayonet has finally become a seriously
collected item.

Update

The SOS in Louisville, Kentucky and the Baltimore Show and
Society of American Bayonet Collectors annual meeting are all coming up very
soon. I will be at both shows and the SABC meeting and hope to see many of you
there.

Weíll continue here with the topic we started a few
months ago, foreign made bayonets for the US M16 rifle.

Israeli M7 Bayonet

I picked this bayonet up last year from my good friend Bill
Humes. I knew about the Eickhorn manufactured Israeli M7s but Bill sprung a
new one on me with this piece. This is a standard Imperial manufactured and
marked M7. The one exception is that this bayonet has an additional marking on
the front of the crossguard that looks like a script "Y". This mark
is the Israeli Army property mark.

The scabbard is an M8A1 style scabbard. The face of the
throat is marked USM8A1 but does not have a manufacturerís mark. The green
scabbard body has a crinkle finish. There is not an Israeli property mark on
the scabbard.

These two bayonets were made in Thailand and are probably
one of the poorest quality bayonets Iíve seen. They are a standard M7
configuration. The metal components have no finish to speak of and the
stampings and machining work are of inferior quality. The plastic grips are
hollow and are made of a soft plastic and are held in place by machine screws.
One set of grips has round threaded inserts cast into the plastic grip; the
other has hex nuts cast in. The pommel castings are rough and the latch levers
fit very loosely. No attention was paid to detail.

There are two different scabbards with the plastic material
of the body being the main difference between the two. Both have unmarked
metal throats with visible spot welds along the front. One has a soft, light
green colored scabbard body while the other has a hard, dark green plastic.
Neither scabbard body appears to have any type of fiber reinforcement in the
plastic. The scabbards are not interchangeable with the bayonets due to the
difference in the blade widths.

Iíve listed this bayonet as an M7 but Iím not really
sure what it is. This is a leather gripped bayonet made by Kiffe. The muzzle
ring is 22 mm in diameter, the same as the M7 bayonet. The problem is the
pommel which has the small mortise slot of the M4 bayonet. There is a yellow
"48" painted on the left side of the grip.

I have no information on this piece, but some thoughts
based on the muzzle ring and pommel combination: early M7 prior to the
addition of the heavy bayonet stud on the M16, a bayonet for the BM59 (BM59
has a bayonet stud comparable in size to the M1 Carbine), a bayonet that was
part of the SPIW program (OK a long shot) or a bayonet that someone put
together from miscellaneous parts. I would welcome any input you might have.

That wraps it up for this month. If any of you will be in
Louisville or Baltimore please look me up and say hello. If youíd like
information on the Society of American Bayonet Collectors drop me a line. Any
other questions or comments can be forwarded to me at